Weird phone call from Apple DEMANDING that I replace my iphone 3G

[HyQuality]

My wife just called me and said that she got a strange phone call from Apple asking her to come back to the store (in Soho, NYC) because her account is on a list of phones with "several glitches". The Apple rep didn't specify what the glitches are, but he said that she MUST go to the Apple store and get a replacement -- otherwise AT&T will disconnect her service.

It was definitely Apple because the rep had her name, account # and phone number. He also knew that she bought her original phone from the Soho store. She also mentioned that he was very nice and polite... = Apple.

Has anyone received a similar call recently? What the hell is this about?

 

[philgilder]

try and see if this is similar:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/526297/

 

[alejovh1]

do I smell a recall????

 

[scaredpoet]

Nah, there's a group of phones that are being exchanged because their IMEIs got botched in the system when the activation server went down. Apparently AT&T lost track of these, and even though they were sold in conjunction with an activated account, they weren't properly marked as such in AT&T's inventory. And because they don't look legit on the network, they have to be... "exchanged."

 

[Warbrain]

Nah, there's a group of phones that are being exchanged because their IMEIs got botched in the system when the activation server went down. Apparently AT&T lost track of these, and even though they were sold in conjunction with an activated account, they weren't properly marked as such in AT&T's inventory. And because they don't look legit on the network, they have to be... "exchanged."

Ah...the IMEIs are not registered as being sold in the ATT system and are flagged as stolen...priceless.

 

[ubersalad]

My wife just called me and said that she got a strange phone call from Apple asking her to come back to the store (in Soho, NYC) because her account is on a list of phones with "several glitches". The Apple rep didn't specify what the glitches are, but he said that she MUST go to the Apple store and get a replacement -- otherwise AT&T will disconnect her service.

It was definitely Apple because the rep had her name, account # and phone number. He also knew that she bought her original phone from the Soho store. She also mentioned that he was very nice and polite... = Apple.

Has anyone received a similar call recently? What the hell is this about?

Ouch! What if someone already sold their phone?!

 

[scaredpoet]

Ouch! What if someone already sold their phone?!

Well, we won't know until someone tries to activate one.

Not all iPhones sold on July 11 have this problem though.

 

[ubersalad]

Well, we won't know until someone tries to activate one.

Not all iPhones sold on July 11 have this problem though.

I am just saying what if Apple/AT&T pull this same crap on IMEI they identified as "activated on multiple lines" and demand the phone to be returned as an "activation error". I am not sure if there's any legal ground for enforcing iphone returns, but this would be outside AT&T's terms and conditions.

 

[HyQuality]

UPDATE: So I went to the Apple store today and they were very helpful. They swapped out my wife's phone for a new one and for all the hassle, they also threw in free applecare for BOTH of my iphones (2 lines) and free Power Support anti-glare screen protectors. I was in and out of the store in less than 20 minutes. All in all, a good experience.

 

[BlackMax]

UPDATE: So I went to the Apple store today and they were very helpful. They swapped out my wife's phone for a new one and for all the hassle, they also threw in free applecare for BOTH of my iphones (2 lines) and free Power Support anti-glare screen protectors. I was in and out of the store in less than 20 minutes. All in all, a good experience.

This is the type of Apple Store experience story I like to hear.